Chicago Man Sentenced for 2010 Heroin Sting in Woodbury

A Chicago man arrested in Woodbury in June 2010 was sentenced in federal court Monday after conspiring to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin in the Twin Cities.

Darnell Watson, 45, pleaded guilty on Nov. 2, 2011, and was sentenced to three and a half years of prison time on Monday by U.S. District Court Judge Joan N. Ericksen, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Minnesota district.

Watson and two other were arrested in Woodbury on June 28, 2010, with 149 grams of heroin in their possession. The arrests brought their two-year operation to an end, the release says.

In their respective plea agreements, the defendants admitted conspiring to distribute heroin and transport the drug from Chicago to the Twin Cities.

On Dec. 15, 2011, co-defendant Keith Charles Williams, 49, of Minneapolis, was sentenced to 33 months in prison on one count of conspiracy. He pleaded guilty on Sept. 16, 2011. On Nov. 14, 2011, DeMarco Hughes, 42, of St. Paul, was sentenced to 84 months in prison on one count of conspiracy. He pleaded guilty on Aug. 25, 2011.

This case was the result of an investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the and the Minneapolis Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas M. Hollenhorst.